E3S Web of Conferences 32, 01008 (2018)

https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/20183201008
EENVIRO 2017

The necessity of HVAC system for the registered architectural

cultural heritage building
Cătălin George Popovici1, Sebastian Valeriu Hudișteanu1, and Nelu-Cristian Cherecheș1,*
1
“Gheorghe Asachi” Technical University of Iaşi, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Building Services, Romania

Abstract. This study is intended to highlight the role of the ventilation and air conditioning system for a
theatre. It was chosen as a case study the "Vasile Alecsandri" National Theatre of Jassy. The paper also
sought to make a comparison in three distinct scenarios for HVAC Main Hall system - ventilation and air
conditioning system of the Main Hall doesn’t work; only the ventilation system of the Main Hall works
and ventilation and air conditioning system of the Main Hall works. For analysing the comfort parameters,
the ANSYS-Fluent software was used to build a 2D model of the building and simulation of HVAC
system functionality during winter season, in all three scenarios. For the studied scenarios, the external
conditions of Jassy and the indoor conditions of the theatre, when the entire spectacle hall is occupied
were considered. The main aspects evaluated for each case were the air temperature, air velocity and
relative humidity. The results are presented comparatively as plots and spectra of the interest parameters.

1 Introduction according to scientific literature specifications, the

The functionality of the HVAC system and other
building services is a very important target for all type of
buildings and even more for locations with high density
of people, such as theatres.
An important and prestigious objective of Jassy is
“Vasile Alecsandri” National Theatre, one of the most
representative historical monuments of the city,
rehabilitated and consolidated until 2012.
The “Vasile Alecsandri” National Theatre of Jassy was
built between 1894 and 1896 on the site of the old town
hall that was demolished [1, 2]. The project is the work
of the Viennese architects Fellner and Helmer and the
construction was carried out by the Construction Society
of Bucharest. “Vasile Alecsandri” National Theater of
Jassy is considered to be the oldest and most beautiful
place of its kind in Romania.
HVAC system is one of the most important building
services system of this famous theatre. Initial HVAC
project was designed in 1896 by Koerting brothers in
Paris and they only solved the problems of heating using
natural circulation air combined with mechanical
ventilation using a large pressured room. The existing
installations have never been dimensioned for cooling [1,
2].
The new project solution of the engineering thermo-
technical system included the system of insuring higher
microclimatic conditions for the pleasant stay of visitors
as well as actors and technical staff. Special care was
given to the auditorium and to the stage. The previous
solutions of heating and ventilation system with the new
project were raised to a different comfort level with
HVAC system. Under these circumstances and
HVAC solution implemented for “Vasile Alecsandri”
National Theatre of Jassy consists in four HVAC
integrated systems serving: Main Hall, stage, foyer and
adjacent areas [2]. It is a multi-zone solution which
divides the building into 3 areas whose utilization is
never simultaneous: Zone 1 - Main hall - stall, lodges
and balcony; Zone 2 - stage and orchestra pit; Zone 3 -
foyer and adjacent areas [6].
The HVAC technical data for the building are the
following [2]:
 Total surface - 11.300 m2;
 Capacity - 740 places;
 Total heating power - 800 kW;
 Boilers – 2 units;
 Total cooling power - 350 kW;
 Air chiller - 1 unit;
 Total supply airflow - 33000 m3/h;
 Total exhaust airflow - 38000 m3/h;
 Air handling unit - 6 units;
 Exhaust fan - 8 units.
2 Case description
The subject of this study is the Main Hall of “Vasile
Alecsandri” National Theatre of Jassy – the space where
the entire audience is present during spectacles. This
represents a voluminous space with 10.7 m height, 18 m
width and 21 m length.
The ventilation of the Main Hall is realized by using
three independent systems for introducing the fresh air in
different zones: stall, lodges and balcony. The exhaust
air is evacuated through one system, placed under the

*
Corresponding author: chereches@tuiasi.ro
© The Authors, published by EDP Sciences. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution
License 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
E3S Web of Conferences 32, 01008 (2018) https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/20183201008
EENVIRO 2017

roof. The total airflow in the auditorium Main Hall is of

21,000 m3/h. The ventilation is balanced, meaning that
the introduced airflow is equal with the evacuated one.
The problem studied consist of the functionality of the
HVAC system during the theatre show, in winter time,
for three distinct scenarios:
First scenario - Ventilation and air conditioning system
of the Main Hall doesn’t work;
Second scenario – Only the ventilation system of the
Main Hall works;
Third scenario - Ventilation and air conditioning
system of the Main Hall works.
a)
3 Numerical modelling
The comfort parameters were analysed numerically
using the ANSYS-Fluent software for a 2D model of the
building and the simulation of HVAC system
functionality during winter time, in all three scenarios. A
2D model of the building was realized by using ANSYS-
Fluent software, simulating the functionality of the
HVAC system. For the studied scenarios, the external
conditions of Jassy and the indoor conditions of the
b)
theatre, when the entire spectacle hall is occupied were
considered. The main aspects evaluated for each case Fig. 1. Cross section of the Main Hall: a) geometry of the 2D
were the air temperature, air velocity and relative model; b) meshing.
humidity.
The simulations are achieved in steady state regime, The input data are the following:
using turbulent flow and k-ε model [7, 8, 9]. Therefore, - inlet sections, the conditioned fresh air temperature
the temperature, velocity and relative humidity data of 20 °C;
inside the main hall of the theatre were obtained. - outlet sections are set as outflow zones;
Performing numerical simulations carried out by CFD - exterior air temperature Text = -18 °C;
tool, ANSYS-Fluent, the differential equations of heat - convective heat transfer coefficient α = 24 W/m2K;
transfer and fluid mechanics were solved [3]: - flow regime - turbulent (k-ε RNG);
Momentum equation: - modelling humidity - species model;
- two volumetric species: air and water-vapours;
 - moisture for a sitting person: 70 g H20/h [4, 5, 10].
(  v)    (  vv)  p  ( )   g  F (1)
t
Energy conservation: 4 Results
The results are presented comparatively for the three

( E )    (v( E  p))    ( h j J j )  S h (2) studied scenarios. The qualitative data are revealed by
t j contours of velocity, temperature and humidity, while
Conservation of mass: the quantitative ones can be observed in the plots of the
p (3)
same parameters.
   (  v)  S m
t 4.1. First Scenario - Ventilation and air conditioning
The geometry and mesh of the model, Fig. 1, were
system of the Main Hall doesn’t work
realized by using ANSYS-Design-Modeller and
ANSYS-Meshing. The geometry of the building is a All the air handling units are out of order or doesn’t
simplified one, for the cross section only, assuming a 2D work in this first case. There are 740 peoples inside the
model. It was determined the mass flow for each grille, Main Hall during the show, without fresh air, heating or
taking into account that Fluent uses an auxiliary virtual cooling. Fig. 2 highlights the first Scenario temperature
dimension of 1 m long [3]. The mesh was created with distribution.
refinements near walls, Fig. 2.b, resulting in 5596 nodes, More accurate data is presented in Fig. 2.a, which offers
10418 2D interior faces and 5322 mixed cells. information about temperature distribution at different
height in cross section. The elevation planes were
selected as h = 1 m, 4 m, 7.5 m, 9 m and 10.7 m, being
most relevant from the point of view of human comfort
in occupational zones.

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E3S Web of Conferences 32, 01008 (2018) https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/20183201008
EENVIRO 2017

a)
Fig. 4. The first scenario - Indoor relative humidity spectra.

4.2. Second scenario – Only the ventilation system of

b)
Fig. 2. The first scenario indoor temperature distribution: a)
Temperature spectra; b) Temperatures at different heights.
the Main Hall works.
Only the ventilation system works in the second
scenario. The Main Hall capacity is full with 740 peoples
inside and only the fresh air is provided. The cooling
system doesn’t work.
Fig. 5 shows the second Scenario temperature
distribution.

Indoor air temperatures reach values of 28 - 39 °C and of

28 - 34 °C for stall, lodges and balcony areas. The
thermal discomfort is maximum. The indoor air is almost
impossible to breathe.
Fig. 3 shows the velocities spectra and velocity of the
indoor air at different heights. All the values are near
zero. Very quiet but too hot.

a)

a)
b)

Fig. 5. The second scenario indoor temperature distribution: a)

Temperature spectra; b) Temperatures at different heights.

The range of the indoor air temperatures values are of 27

- 35 °C and of 27 - 31 °C for stall, lodges and balcony
areas. Thermal discomfort is felt.
The average velocity is around 0.3 m/s, Fig. 6, and
doesn’t affect the comfort of the occupants.
b)
Fig. 3. The first scenario velocity distribution: a) Velocity
spectra; b) Velocity at different heights.

The values of indoor relative humidity lie between 65 -

75 %, Fig 4. The maximum values are recorded at the
top of the balcony and the risk of condensation is the
greatest.

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E3S Web of Conferences 32, 01008 (2018) https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/20183201008
EENVIRO 2017

a) a)

b) b)

Fig. 6. The second scenario indoor velocities distribution: a) Fig. 8. The third scenario indoor temperature distribution:
Velocity spectra; b) Velocity at different heights. a) Temperature spectra; b) Temperatures at different heights.

The indoor relative humidity value is between of 65 – 70
%, Fig 7. The maximum values are recorded at the top of
the balcony.
The range indoor air temperatures values are of 22 - 27
°C and of 22 - 25 °C for stall, lodges and balcony areas.
All the thermal comfort parameters are optimal.
The average velocity in around of 0.3 m/s, Fig. 9, and
doesn’t affect the comfort of the occupants.

Fig. 7. The second scenario - Indoor relative humidity spectra.

a)
Third scenario - Ventilation and air conditioning
system of the Main Hall works.
All the air handling units are in use, so ventilation and
air conditioning system of the Main Hall works in this
third case. There are 740 peoples inside the Main Hall
during the theatre show, enjoying fresh air, heating and
cooling. Humidity control works too.
Fig. 8 shows the third scenario temperature distribution.
b)

Fig. 9. The third scenario indoor velocities distribution: a)

Velocity spectra; b) Velocity at different heights.

Fig. 10 shows that the indoor relative humidity value is

between of 55 - 60 %.

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E3S Web of Conferences 32, 01008 (2018) https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/20183201008
EENVIRO 2017
Fig. 10. The third scenario – Indoor relative humidity spectra.
4 Conclusions
The Main Hall HVAC system of the real building
“Vasile Alecsandri” National Theatre of Jassy was
studied by using a 2D model, with specific software
ANSYS-Fluent.
The Main Hall HVAC system is subjected to an analysis
of its functionality, by evaluating the supplied
parameters when operating in three different scenarios as
follows:
First scenario - Ventilation and air conditioning system’
of the Main Hall doesn’t work;
Second scenario – Only the ventilation system of the
Main Hall works;
Third scenario - Ventilation and air conditioning system
of the Main Hall works.
When the ventilation and air conditioning system of the
Main Hall doesn’t work, the indoor air is almost
impossible to breathe. The indoor air temperatures are
between of 28 - 35 °C, indoor air velocities are near zero
and indoor relative humidity varies between 65 - 75 %.
The thermal discomfort is maximum.
The ventilation system of Main Hall works in the second
scenario and the thermal discomfort is felt. The indoor
air temperatures reach values of 27 - 31 °C, indoor air
velocities values are around 0.3 m/s and indoor relative
humidity is lies between 65 - 70 %. The indoor air
temperature and relative humidity values exceed the
limits of thermal comfort.
The ventilation and air conditioning system of the Main
Hall works in this third scenario and the thermal comfort
parameters are optimal. The indoor air temperatures are
between of 22 - 25 °C, indoor air velocities values
around 0.3 m/s and indoor relative humidity varies
between 65 - 70 %.
The recently implemented HVAC Main Hall system
reaches its task and provides adequate comfort
conditions.
After an overall outlook of the results, it can be stated
with certainty that it is not possible to have a theatre
show on Main Hall of “Vasile Alecsandri” National
Theatre of Jassy without ventilation and air conditioning
system. This is the main conclusion of the study and it
doesn’t conceive of a theatre without the operation of the
ventilation and air conditioning system. In any season
the humidity control is another need for registered
architectural cultural heritage buildings to ensure the
integrity of paintings and conserving the original
architectural elements of the buildings.
This study confirms the necessity of HVAC system for
the registered architectural cultural heritage building and
theatres in a particular case.
Notations
p - Pressure (Pa);
α - convective heat transfer coefficient (W/m2.K);
v - Overall velocity vector (m/s);
t - Time (s);
ρ - Density (kg/m3);
τ - Shear stress (Pa);
g - Gravitational acceleration (m/s2);
F - Force vector (N);
E - Total energy (J);
h - Enthalpy (J/kg);
h0 - Standard state enthalpy of formation (energy/mass,
energy/mole);
J - Mass flux; diffusion flux (kg/m2.s);
Sh - Source of heat added;
Sm - Source of mass added to the continuous phase;
Text - temperature of external air (°C).
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